Forum for Science, Industry and Business

COMPETE Final Consultation Workshop

28.09.2015

COMPETE demands a branch compliant and coordinated promotion of the international competitiveness of European food supply chains

After three years of research, the results from the COMPETE project were presented on 22 September 2015 in the General Agency of the Land of Saxony-Anhalt in Brussels, Belgium. The policy recommendations for the improvement of the competitiveness of European food supply chains in the global and domestic market will be presented to the European Commission and to invited stakeholders in an open Final Consultation Workshop.

The 16 project partners from ten countries held discussions with high level representatives from politics, economy and science, among them Henrike Franz, representative of the Land of Saxony-Anhalt to the EU, Hans-Joerg Lutzeyer, member of the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation, as well as Francesca Bignami from FoodDrink Europe.

„The production of food in the European Union is characterized by big differences in structure, productivity and balance of trade. The European member states will lose further market shares to international competitors if there is no branch compliance and coordinated policy measures“, the coordinator of COMPETE, Prof. Dr. Heinrich Hockmann from IAMO, reminded.

Policy recommendations from the COMPETE project, that is being supported by the 7th European Union Framework Programme can be extrapolated for a national as well as for an EU level. In some countries, significant wide ranging regulatory reforms and particularly in the institutional environment are necessary. However, the responsibilities and influence of the EU are limited in this area and member states are responsible of their development and implementation. These national political measures should follow the subsidiary principle.

An extensive overview of the results and recommendations of the project appeared a short time ago in the COMPETE 3rd Policy Brief. The publication can be seen in English here.

Further information

Detailed information and further publications about the research project COMPETE can be found at the following webpage: www.compete-project.eu

About IAMO

The Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) analyses economic, social and political processes of change in the agricultural and food sector, and in rural areas. The geographic focus covers the enlarging EU, transition regions of Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe, as well as Central and Eastern Asia. IAMO works to enhance the understanding of institutional, structural and technological changes. Moreover, IAMO studies the resulting impacts on the agricultural and food sector as well as the living conditions of rural populations. The outcomes of our work are used to derive and analyse strategies and options for enterprises, agricultural markets and politics. Since its founding in 1994, IAMO has been part of the Leibniz Association, a German community of independent research institutes.

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